"We were very aggressive, especially with a lefty," said Wall who was 2 for 3 with four runs scored. "It's this thing Coach (Elliott) Babcock talks to us about. We take advantage of our lefties. Most people are scared of lefties, but we run all over them. We show them that we can control the base paths. We do it well, and we're aggressive with what we do."

That approach was most evident in the second inning when the Ricebirds executed a hit-and-run, stole five bases and took an extra base on a ball hit to the gap.

This does not include Reid Hubenak swiping home to give El Campo a 7-0 lead after Clay Kresta drew a walk and forced the St. Joseph defense to focus on his antics between first and second base. Hubenak (2 for 5) had a 2 RBI triple. Kresta (1 for 3) eventually drove in a pair of runs and scored three more times himself.

"We're aggressive on the bases," Krenek said. "It's not always going to be the first pitch. Once we have a team on the ropes, we try to keep them on the ropes."

Krenek said his defense played well, his team hit well, and the Ricebirds pitching was "OK, but not stellar," despite holding the Flyers to two runs on three hits.

"We played a relatively clean game, but we have work to do," said St. Joseph baseball coach Mike Shimek. "We were a little overmatched tonight. I saw some good things, and I definitely saw some things we need to work on as well."

Jerry Vasquez hit a two-out 2 RBI triple with two outs in the third inning to bring in Matt Garcia and Eric Alvarez for the Flyers only runs of the evening.

Vasquez stole a base, but the Flyers were not nearly as active as their opponents Monday night. Wall credited Babcock for encouraging them to apply pressure on defenses.

"Coming out my senior year, it's the first game, it was kind of nerve-racking, especially playing these guys," Wall said. "We haven't seen them, but we've played them a couple times in the past. It's a new thing, and it's our first game. I'm glad we came out, stroked the ball well and hit the ground running. It was surprising."